Ionic Product of Water, Kw
- In all aqueous solutions, an equilibrium exists in water where a few water molecules dissociate into protons and hydroxide ions
- We can derive an equilibrium constant for the reaction:
- This is a specific equilibrium constant called the ionic product for water
- The product of the two ion concentrations is always 1 x 10-14 mol2 dm-6
- This makes it straightforward to see the relationship between the two concentrations and the nature of the solution:
[H+] & [OH–] Table
The relationship between Kw and pKw is given by the following equation:
pKw = -logKw